Changes in AJT Distribution, Delivery
Nine full months have passed since I acquired the Atlanta Jewish Times. Clearly, there have been a few minor setbacks and occasional criticisms, but overall, the AJT is much better than when I started, and people have complimented us for our efforts.
It is satisfying to know that the community is supporting us with stories, pictures, ideas, subscriptions and advertising. So far, we have focused on community news and events, and we are striving for ways to be able to cover all of the local events.
We have hired some new editors, writers and columnists. Additionally, several columnists have re-joined the AJT after being gone for many years, which has brought back some of the charm of the original Southern Israelite.
Although we will continue to make the community our main priority, we are working on ways to bring to you some more provocative stories from across the nation, from Israel and from around the world.
Like the paper, our website, www.atlantajewishtimes.com, is much improved. Online, you can find updates and breaking news, as well as numerous photos, stories and articles that were not included in the printed pages of the paper. We have plans for re-formatting and making our website even better in the very near future and increasing our use of social media, so stay tuned.
Finally, and most significantly, our number of paid subscribers has been steadily increasing. As a result, starting in January 2013, we will no longer distribute the AJT for free.
My idea from the start was to make positive changes to the paper and show the community how the AJT is new and better than it has been for the last several years. To do that, I paid for thousands of extra papers to be printed and delivered.
At this point, the extra free papers are no longer necessary. The community is reading the AJT and liking it!
Since this issue is our Chanukah gift giving guide, I ask you to please give a subscription to the Atlanta Jewish Times to your friends, family and co-workers. The cost is low, and the recipient will be reminded of you every week that they get the AJT.
Remember: So many Chanukah gifts are gone within days or break within months, but the gift of community and the gift of reading will continue every week.
Beyond the end of free distribution, another important change is that, starting next week the edition of Dec. 7 – papers will no longer be delivered via the U.S. Postal Service. The Post Office’s service has not met expectations of late, and we have heard your complaints, so next Friday’s paper (and all those following) will instead be delivered in a plastic bag to your doorstep, front yard or driveway by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Note that you will not receive your paper in your mailbox. Until we can make other arrangements, out-of-town and out-of-state subscribers will still get their papers mailed to them via the USPS.
Other than that, if there are particular topics that you believe would interest our readers, please contact me with those suggestions (cmweiss@atljewishtimes.com). As always, we want to have a little something for everyone; for 87 years, this has been our community newspaper, and we intend to keep it that way!
Gabriel, Loretta and I, wish y’all a very Happy Chanukah!
BY CLIFF WEISS / Publisher/Editor-in-Chief
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